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Posted by Myrna on November 21, 2006, 3:26 pm
In our home there are 3 smoke alarms, all wired into the house wiring.
All are the same age (about 22 yrs). There's a high pitched noise
coming from one of them.
In a recent discussion, one guy told me to replace all of them, not
just the one. He said new ones aren't compatible with the new ones. I
didn't ask him what he meant about being compatible.
So, can anyone tell me what this means? Do I have to replace all 3?
Thanks,
Myrna
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Posted by N8N on November 21, 2006, 3:34 pm
Myrna wrote:
> In our home there are 3 smoke alarms, all wired into the house wiring.
> All are the same age (about 22 yrs). There's a high pitched noise
> coming from one of them.
>
> In a recent discussion, one guy told me to replace all of them, not
> just the one. He said new ones aren't compatible with the new ones. I
> didn't ask him what he meant about being compatible.
>
> So, can anyone tell me what this means? Do I have to replace all 3?
>
> Thanks,
> Myrna
When you say "wired into the house wiring" I'm assuming that a) they
are 120VAC units and b) they are also "tandem" detectors, i.e. there's
an extra wire or pair of wires between all of the detectors so that
when one detects smoke it causes the sounder in all of them to sound.
Kind of a fire alarm system without a panel if you will. If that is
the case I would believe your source that anything 22 years old may not
be compatible with current equipment. If nothing else a 22 year old
smoke detector probably has drifted significantly in sensitivity and I
wouldn't really trust it to protect me. I'd sleep better at night
knowing that they were all new. If you have an ADI nearby they
probably have something you can use with your current wiring, just take
one of the existing ones in with you, but buy three of them.
good luck,
nate
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Posted by Butch Haynes on November 21, 2006, 3:34 pm
> In our home there are 3 smoke alarms, all wired into the house wiring.
> All are the same age (about 22 yrs). There's a high pitched noise
> coming from one of them.
>
> In a recent discussion, one guy told me to replace all of them, not
> just the one. He said new ones aren't compatible with the new ones. I
> didn't ask him what he meant about being compatible.
>
> So, can anyone tell me what this means? Do I have to replace all 3?
>
> Thanks,
> Myrna
>
Fire departments recommend using battery operated ones that are independent
of house current and could be compromised in a fire.
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Posted by N8N on November 21, 2006, 3:54 pm
Butch Haynes wrote:
> > In our home there are 3 smoke alarms, all wired into the house wiring.
> > All are the same age (about 22 yrs). There's a high pitched noise
> > coming from one of them.
> >
> > In a recent discussion, one guy told me to replace all of them, not
> > just the one. He said new ones aren't compatible with the new ones. I
> > didn't ask him what he meant about being compatible.
> >
> > So, can anyone tell me what this means? Do I have to replace all 3?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Myrna
> >
>
> Fire departments recommend using battery operated ones that are independent
> of house current and could be compromised in a fire.
In many cases 120VAC detectors are required in new construction, and
therefore likely it would be a code violation to replace them with
battery operated units. However, there are detectors available which
are 120VAC and also use a 9V battery for backup power should the 120VAC
power fail.
nate
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Posted by mm on November 21, 2006, 11:52 pm
On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 15:34:41 -0500, "Butch Haynes"
>> In our home there are 3 smoke alarms, all wired into the house wiring.
>> All are the same age (about 22 yrs). There's a high pitched noise
>> coming from one of them.
>>
>> In a recent discussion, one guy told me to replace all of them, not
>> just the one. He said new ones aren't compatible with the new ones. I
>> didn't ask him what he meant about being compatible.
>>
>> So, can anyone tell me what this means? Do I have to replace all 3?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Myrna
>>
>
>Fire departments recommend using battery operated ones that are independent
>of house current and could be compromised in a fire.
I was gong to say something like this, but I think the best system
would be a combination of battery and AC detectors.
Also, I don't want to discourage anyone from safety measures, but
these detectors are testable. Hold a burning match below one, and it
will sound within 3 or 4 seconds iirc.
Finally a story. I have a lot of smoke detectors, and the one in the
basement started beeping to indicate the battery is low. but I have
piled things below it and can't reach it without moving everything.
So I let it beep for about 3 or 4 months. Yet, when I tried to start
the furnace in late Sept, early Oct. and it was smokey, the smoke
detector whe off and was as loud as iff the battery were new.. It was
plenty loud.. It's been another six or 7 weeks and it's still
beeping, more often now I think , once a minute. Now I'm curious how
long it will beep. It's been at least 6 months. I'm impressed.
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